Over at the Modern Image Communications blog, Karen Scharf has posted her "6 Common Mistakes in Referral Marketing." It's a great list of common referral blunders, and I found her warning against ambiguous referral requests to be especially pertinent. It's a problem that is addressed extensively in Automatic Referrals.
When you ask a client a question like, "Do you know of anyone who could benefit from my services?" it is simply too open ended. The client's mind is likely to wander aimlessly and come up with either nobody or random acquaintances. They know a lot of people, after all, and searching through their entire mental-rolodex for people who could work with you is just too tall of an order to do on the spot. And those they do come up with are likely to be under-qualified.
The trick is to get specific. Think about who your average client is and certain features that stand out about them. What kind of income are they making, what kind of work are they involved in, are they near retirement? Implement those features into your referral questions to give your clients a narrower focus. When they have a clearer picture of who you can help, they're more likely to think of better qualified people and more of them.
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